Generating Maximum Power

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"Excellence is an art won by training and habituation.
We do not act rightly because we have virtue or
excellence, but we rather have those because we have
acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit."

- Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)

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I was watching the Bruce Lee classic, "Enter The
Dragon", with my young son the other night. He loves
the choreography of the fight scenes and the rapid
rate that the fighters deliver the strikes.

I have to admit those movies are fun to watch. We
also enjoy watching "The Three Stooges" for the same
reason ñ- the speed of the strikes, although the
"Stooges" do it for comic effect.

I remember for much of my youth my martial arts
training revolved around speed. I was always trying to
punch and kick faster. Often you were judged on how
many strikes you could deliver in a given amount of
time.

In this newsletter, we've already discussed the
importance of striking a specific target on the
other guy's body, so lets talk about speed. Where does
it factor in when you fight?

First a little physics is in order -- Force x
Velocity = Power. Most instructors in the combat
sport and martial arts world focus on just one aspect
of the equation... Speed. (Speed is how fast an object
moves, velocity is how fast an object moves from point
a to b.)

Why?

Because most of those disciplines are taught in what
TFT(tm) terms the Effect-State(tm). The Effect-State
revolves around you reacting to an event that already has
occurred. In fact, it can be argued that most of
society operates in this defensive state of mind.
That subject would require a separate newsletter
altogether.

In a fight it is natural that if you operate in a
Effect-State you will try to compensate for your
waiting to see what the other guy is doing -- with
speed.

Problem is... speed without force is only a portion
of the equation, and even if your targeting is accurate,
you strike with static force. In fighting, a static-force
strike would be a punch using only your arm speed to
strike rather than putting your entire bodyweight
behind the punch.

Essentially, in the context of fighting, a speed-
only response equals FEAR. I'm not saying it can't be
effective sometimes, just that you are counting on
ALWAYS being able to be faster than the other guy. I
don't like those odds.

TFT was developed with the idea that you may not be
faster or stronger than the other guys but you
compensate for those realities by operating in the
Cause-State(tm), striking with dynamic rather than static
force.

I've touched on operating in the Cause-State in
earlier newsletters so lets explore using dynamic
force.

Dynamic force allows you to strike with the full
power equation, putting your bodyweight behind each
strike to maximize damage and minimize the length of
the conflict.

The key to generating dynamic force is understanding
how to properly lock your body and transfer your body
weight into each strike. This can be accomplished
quickly with some basic exercises and on-the-mat
training at a TFT seminar.

Although it is beyond the scope of this newsletter
to try to instruct this method, I will say that one
way to start the process is to SLOW DOWN your free-
fight sessions, hit your targets, and leave your body
weapon on the target until your opponent MOVES AWAY
from your body weapon.

Most people strike and quickly take their body
weapon off the target. This does not allow for the
force of the blow to penetrate the other guy's body. It
is the other guy that should move from the force if you
want to generate maximum power. This also gives you
feedback as to whether you are in balance when you
strike.

You may do this at slow speeds and get the feedback
without injuring your training partner. Quickly, you
and your training partner can increase your speed AND
deliver maximum power.

So let Hollywood entertain you with SPEED but make
sure you TRAIN for POWER.

Until next time,

Tim Larkin
Creator of Target-Focus(TM) Training
http://www.targetfocustraining.com

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